Just had a thought. I have heard that Andrew Bordon pretty much married for a live in babysitter for when the girls were young. Think that maybe Andrew grew tired of her and killed her? And maybe someone else killed Andrew.Maybe lizzie because she was tiring to protect her father. I mean if he got convicted his wife it wouldn't look to good for a well to do man of the era. It's probably just a silly off the hook theory.
It's definitely been thought of - I forget what novelist or short story writer developed the same idea as a basis for a fictional (?) explanation, having Andrew, as you say, kill Abby, and then having Lizzie kill Andrew, thinking he was an intruder.
There was also a comic book treatment (not the Geary) that had time-traveling scientists witness Andrew murder Abby (he had drugged Lizzie, whom he was also planning to murder) before running off with a very sexy Bridget. Of course, one of the scientists can't hold himself back and steps into the fray, getting into a fight with Andrew that only ends when the scientist is forced to hack Andrew to death. Guess who gets blamed?
In A Private Disgrace Victoria Lincoln wrote something about the difficulty of believing that one person "had taken an axe" to Abby, and someone else had done the same to Andrew that morning.
But there are Bordeniacs out there, I'm sure, who would be willing to entertain the possibility of a conspiracy, with two different assailants doing just that.
Interesting posts, Bob G. I didn't know that theory had been brought up before. I don't think it was brought up non-fictionally before. Andrew was vouched for leaving the house at a certain time that morning and returning at a certain time. By the time Andrew got back, Abby had been dead for a good hour or so.
When Andrew comes back he asks Lizzie where Abby is, and she tells him "She had a note..."
I don't think we can seriously look at Andrew as a suspect in Abby's death.
augusta @ Wed Apr 06, 2005 11:56 am wrote:Interesting posts, Bob G. I didn't know that theory had been brought up before. I don't think it was brought up non-fictionally before. Andrew was vouched for leaving the house at a certain time that morning and returning at a certain time. By the time Andrew got back, Abby had been dead for a good hour or so.
When Andrew comes back he asks Lizzie where Abby is, and she tells him "She had a note..."
I don't think we can seriously look at Andrew as a suspect in Abby's death.
We did seriously look at Andrew being the killer of Abby- lately (sort of )- because he had missing time. But the newspapers all state he was shaved- it's just that no one testified to that, no proof.
Bob is correct that it was a treatment- it was by Q Patrick, an alias.
Yes, thanks, "The Case for Lizzie." Antony Boucher and someone else wrote it under that alias, and it was published in THE POCKET BOOK OF CRIME. I've got it at home, somewhere.